How Does Okonkwo's Change In Things Fall Apart

He doesn’t want to be like his father since he was a coward and debtor. “Fortunately, among these people a man was not judged according to his worth…. or the worth of his father” (Achebe 11). His fatal flaws were weakness, failure and being like his father. His father was known as the irresponsible and lazy debtor of the clan. The way he treats other people such as his son and wives horribly shows how his flaws and insecurities control his life. He expresses more love for Ikemefuna than his real son because Nwoye shows traits of his father. By taking his own life, he escapes his fate of a new religion and reality. “A great deal of your decisions is informed by your emotional responses because that is what emotions are designed to do: to appraise and summarize an experience and inform your actions” (Lamia). Okonkwo’s actions and language towards his family, clan, and himself were all based off of his own insecurities which caused a tragic ending in the story. His unhappiness and pain revealed stress, anxiety and insecurities among

Okonkwo also tries to show himself as an unsympathetic character to show that he is not a weak man, like his father, Unoka. (Being a weak man is a very degrading quality for the culture of Umofia.) An example of Okonkwo’s unsympathetic personality is Ikemefuna’s death. Although Okonkwo treasured the presence of the adopted buy, Ikemefuna, Okonkwo contributes the last and fatal blow to Ikemefuna, causing him to die in the Evil Forest. Okonkwo, regardless of his love for the boy, killed Ikemefuna ultimately to prove his manliness and strength to the tribe, a valued aspect of the culture. “Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body.” (Achebe 146) Okonkwo is also very unsympathetic in regards to his father, Unoka. Unoka was a poor man who was always in debt; he had an interest in music and enjoyed talking.

The destruction of Okonkwo was revealed slowly throughout the books. He started to make some poor decisions, which became the beginning of his downfall. He killed Ikemefuna just because he didn’t want to be thought weak. He made unwise decisions to only appear to be strong and manly to others in the village. He did not realize how he lost so much from living that way. When, Okonkwo kills Ogbuefi Ezedu’s son, the real tragedy begins. Other tragic heroes usually have a steadier downfall, but Okonkwo had a direct fall in society due to this event. This puts his family into exile for seven years. After a short period of time, white missionaries arrive to Umuofia. When “The

Okonkwo grows to love Ikemefuna like he is his own son and Okonkwo’s real son Nwoye admires and looks up to him as a real brother as well. Yet, Okonkwo does not show any affection of how he feels toward Ikemefuna and how he actually views him as if he is his own. Despite how he feels about Ikemefuna, Okonkwo will not let any type of weakness show, especially not in front of others. So, Okonkwo does not protect Ikemefuna but instead is a part of his murder by stabbing his un-biological son with a machete. Doing this brakes Okonkwo down inside and makes him very weak becoming saddened and depressed for a generous amount of time. This is probably one of the few moments in Okonkwo life that he let his guard down to show a different emotion besides anger, to him crying and mourning is a sign of weakness but after the foul actions he took a part of he can no help but show it. Along with anger comes violence, which Okonkwo often

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected and determined individual whose fatal flaw eventually works against him. Throughout the novel the readers are shown that Okonkwo has many of these Characteristics because he is obsessed with the idea of becoming just like his father. This becomes his flaw in the novel that puts him into exile and makes it hard for him to adjust to the changes that were made with in his village.

In the story “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is the protagonist and tends to face many challenges. In the story Okonkwo is a black strong male and great warrior to their tribe. He then takes in a kid from a neighbor town to seal some conflict. As time progress they become closer and same with the village. He is then exiled.

He brought fright in that tumult.” (pg 205). Citizens of Umuofia were scared and confusion never to have thought that the great man they once respected would due such thing. The idea of losing power and respect against someone else was unbearable to Okonkwo mind which can be shown as a sign of being scared to something that might be greater than one’s self. After killing the missionary Okonkwo didn’t want to live in a world were he would suffer consequences.

In Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe, introduces his main character, Onkonwo. Okonkwo is known as Angry , hard-working, and brave. Even though Okonkwo has a very hard life, he does his best because he takes care of his family. The Author shows that okonkwo is angry.

One of the main causes of Okonkwo’s downfall is his fear of being like his father, who was weak and considered a failure. Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna,

Okonkwo has become determined to climb his way back up the social ranks after have been knocked to the bottom. “He was determined that his return should be marked by his people. He would return with a flourish, and regain the seven wasted years. Although this determination took his mind off of things, he still remembered the tragedy of Nwoye. “At first it appeared as if it might prove too great for his spirit. But it was a resilient spirit, and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan (172).” Okonkwo goes as far as to say “Now he is no longer my son or you brother (172).”

As his life began he was given nothing. His father, Unoka, was a disgrace to Umuofia. He was extremely lazy, and more in debt than anyone could even remember. Okonkwo worked extremely hard for everything he had ever had in his possession. He began his fame at a very young age, as a wrestler. His victory with Amalinze, the cat, was the

Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, illustrates the hardships an Igbo village in Nigeria went through, when the white missionaries invaded the village to spread Christianity. Even though that is the main plot of the whole book, the focus of the book is also on the character traits of the main character, Okonkwo. Okonkwo's appearance is just as normal as the other men in the village. However, he has something special, that makes him stands out and respected by a lot of people. His bravery and wrestling skills have earned a lot of respect from people in his own village and neighboring villages as well.

Okonkwo, as presented by Chinua Achebe in the novel Things Fall Apart, wished to be revered by all as a man of great wealth, power and control--the antithesis of his father. Okonkwo was driven by the need to exhibit utmost control over himself and others; he was an obsessive and insecure man.

He decided that if Umuofia did go to war with the white people he would lay waste to them, settling the score. Okonkwo also deals with the consequences of coming with the men to kill Ikemefuna. The first blow did not kill Ikemefuna, he ran back to Okonkwo who then ”Dazed with fear..drew his machete and cut [Ikemefuna] down. He was afraid of being thought of as weak”(). Okonkwo knew that he should not have been there or had anything to do with his adopted son’s death, yet he was the one to kill him.

Okonkwo, as seen in Chapter One on pages 3 to 8, was a man born into the unlucky fate of having a father like Unoka. Unoka was a lazy and incompetent man who died an